The Premier League released a statement on Tuesday night in response to the allegations made in the programme.

"The Premier League takes all allegations of this nature seriously, which is why we launched an inquiry into alleged irregular payments in transfers back in January of this year.

"As we have made clear any evidence from any source is welcomed. Indeed when the BBC initially approached us regarding Panorama's findings we requested they be submitted to Lord Stevens for investigation.

"We hope now the BBC has had the opportunity to broadcast that their documentary evidence and filming will be made available to Lord Stevens and his team."

At the meeting, Mr Redknapp tells agent Peter Harrison: "I like Toddy, don't I? No I'd take him. I would take him. I would take him without a doubt."

But Mr Redknapp denies his conversation about Andy Todd with the agent Peter Harrison amounted to "tapping up".

His assistant at Portsmouth at the time of the filming, Kevin Bond, is secretly recorded admitting he would consider discussing receiving payments from a proposed new agency involving Peter Harrison. Mr Bond also says he will discuss it with his then boss Harry Redknapp.

Mr Redknapp told the BBC that he has never taken a bung and had given Kevin Bond no reason to think otherwise.

When Mr Bond was told of the filming he said that he is not interested in receiving bungs and that no one he has ever worked with has taken a bung.

Last year, Chelsea were fined £500,000 by Premiership bosses, the Premier League, for "tapping up" Ashley Cole from rivals Arsenal.

Chelsea have been warned they would be docked three Premiership points if they were ever caught at it again.

Middlesbrough have confirmed that they did not give permission for the approach.

Chelsea have denied that the filmed meeting broke any industry rules.

In the programme, for the first time a former agent gives an on-camera interview about the corruption he says he has witnessed.

Steven Noel-Hill said: "The game is corrupt. Bungs were the lubricant of deals. I would say that 80% of all deals have bungs attached to them."

Three different licensed agents who are secretly filmed admit it is normal for some Premiership managers to take bungs.

Charles Collymore - named publicly for the first time in the Panorama film by Luton Town manager Mike Newell as the agent who offered him an illegal payment - said to the undercover reporter: "There's managers out there who take bungs all day long.

"I would say to you comfortably there's six to eight managers we could definitely approach and they'd be up for this no problem."

When Mr Collymore was offered a right to reply to the filming he denied offering or accepting any bungs and says he gave the undercover reporter, UEFA-licensed coach Knut auf dem Berge, false information because he was suspicious of his agenda.

Panorama also reveals that the Bolton chairman Phil Gartside - who is part of the Football Association board which helps police the game - misled his own fans.

He complained in the press last August about an illegal approach to buy his captain Jay Jay Okocha and said he had asked Fifa to investigate.

But Panorama finds out that eight days earlier he had been in a room with the agent Teni Yerima discussing the sale of Okocha.

Mr Gartside has since told the BBC that he had not wanted to sell Okocha but could not ignore a generous offer for his player.

Agent Peter Harrison has since denied that he is a corrupt agent and says that everything he said to the BBC's undercover reporter, Knut auf dem Berge, was merely pub gossip and banter.

He says his payments to Craig Allardyce were legitimate.

Agent Teni Yerima told the BBC that he made everything up as part of a plan to find out who Knut auf dem Berge was working for.

In March, Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was appointed as head of a probe into alleged transfer bungs in the Premier League.

He is looking at irregular payments in transfer deals made since 1 January 2004 and he is expected to publish his findings within weeks.